Who to use? Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard?

[brokrken]

Hi all, I know this topic has been discussed here before, but the threads I found were pretty old, so I thought I'd start a new one considering my current situation.

Here's the deal. My father has been in the brokerage industry for many years. He is with a large firm that you all have heard of, but I won't mention here because there is no need to discuss the merits (or lack thereof) of his firm. Actually, I was in the business for a time when I was younger and my sister still is. I have always kept my accounts with him out of loyalty and he discounted my costs to the cheapest level that he could considering that I managed my account myself. However, even the cheapest level was more than I would pay at the likes of Schwab, Fidelity, Vanguard, etc. He is now retiring and I have no relationship with the guy he is leaving things to, so I am looking to move everything. My sister's business consists of ultra high net worth individuals. So, even though my accounts are in the 7 figures, I would be a small fish in her ocean and she doesn't need, or expect, me to move my money to her. So, I have decided that I'll go with one of the 3 mentioned above. I have a meeting this afternoon with Schwab, tomorrow with Fidelity and I'll talk with someone at Vanguard at some point, too. I already have some money with Vanguard, my 401K is already with Fidelity, but I have no experience with Schwab. What I want to know from you guys is your opinion of the 3. Since I will be doing everything myself, low cost is obviously a must. But, I would also like any insight on ease of use of the site, research availability (which is top notch at both Dad and Sister's firms), availability of bond offerings and ease of use of the bond desk, the amount of ongoing hassle (I don't want a guy calling me all the time with ideas or I don't want to have to deal with a compliance person every time I write a covered call option, for instance). Anyway, quite the ramble, but your thoughts and experiences are appreciated.

 

[MRG]

I've had a long term relationship with Vanguard and Fidelity.

Both are great, some folks will bag on Vanguard for being stodgy and inflexible. Perhaps, but they won't hurt you with BS salespeople!

I was a great fan of Fidelity until I moved to a different area. I no longer have a private client representative, as they can't keep them in this area, or don't care to. The last one was a hard pushing annuity salesman who couldn't spell fiduciary. When I complained to the branch manager he told me to call their 800 number in the future. Perhaps they can manage the people who answer the phones.

I'm very much considered moving 1.25 million from Fidelity to Schwab. Perhaps someone will convince me to.

 

[Car-Guy]

I switched brokers a number of times (back in my early days) but ended up with Schwab about 20 years ago. Not perfect but pretty good. My biggest complaint is being switched to different FA's from time to time. (all free) Some good ones and some not so good but since I make all my of buy and sell decisions so I don't need them very often. I recently moved another chunk of money to them and they gave me 500 free trades. Great on-line tools and website!

 

[brokrken]

I'm very much considered moving 1.25 million from Fidelity to Schwab. Perhaps someone will convince me to.

To your point on Fidelity, when I called the office to set up an appointment, the advisor that they patched me through to didn't seem very interested in taking my call. In fact, it seemed like I was interrupting her watching TV or something. And, she had one 30 minute opening tomorrow, otherwise it would be over a week to see her. I mean, I'm not Bill Gates, but the account size isn't insignificant. When I called Schwab, it was completely the opposite. They seemed excited to take my call and made time whenever it worked for me.

Anyway, we'll see.

 

[SpartacusSchmartacus]

Since I will be doing everything myself, low cost is obviously a must. But, I would also like any insight on ease of use of the site, research availability (which is top notch at both Dad and Sister's firms), availability of bond offerings and ease of use of the bond desk, the amount of ongoing hassle (I don't want a guy calling me all the time with ideas or I don't want to have to deal with a compliance person every time I write a covered call option, for instance). Anyway, quite the ramble, but your thoughts and experiences are appreciated.

Not up to speed on bond stuff and some of the other items mentioned but might want to check:
ToS - Think or Swim, have good fill prices and a huge site with a video learning center .... and the best charts. There is a learning curve to see it for the first time but then again there are videos to learn the site. I use for my Dividend account, the chart shows when stock goes ex-div, amount paid etc.
Handy when searching for div. payers ... put it up on a chart and it shows past divs.

Tasty Trade: best fill prices, they don't hold your hand as much, charts are not TOS quality. I use for option trading exclusively as they specialize in that.

They are online only so if you need to meet with someone then probably go with the ones you mentioned ... you did say you were going alone tho?

 

[kgtest]

I have accounts with all three but only actively use schwab and vanguard, I guess fidelity just lost out to the other two after I rolled over 401k from them to VG per this forums overwhelming advice.


All three are fine, and I see most mention the intuitiveness of the system to be somewhat higher on the priority along with customer service (since a lot are DIY in this forum) that makes sense.


With that said, learning to ride a trike, is different than learning to ride a bike, but we've all learned to ride both, and the outcomes of both are the same, the pedals move us down the road.


Fidelity might be the trike, schwab might be the mountain bike, and vanguard might be the road bike. One thing that pushed me to VG is that some of the funds I was initially in, I had looked up the equivalent to VG with the other two, and sometimes I found that VG had a higher total return than the cousins funds with Fido and Schwab. I wondered why and eventually learned it was operating efficiency which equates to lower expenses.


Vanguard is inherently setup different than the other two and it's a Jack Bogle company. He always had a vision for lower fees than the competition with the idea of higher total returns. IMHO I feel he has done better than his competitors.



I feel like this discussion always comes down to a personal choice, with all three ultimately getting you to the end goal.



I was always scared of Vanguard as I thought that was for "old people" but I have found them no worse or better than the other two. As for customer service, it depends on the rep you talk to, every person has a different level of care, education and knowledge and that will vary as you switch from rep to rep.



Ask all three the same sort of questions, use your best judgement and then make an informed decision. Whatever you decide will not be right nor wrong, but it will be your decision which is great!


As for the websites, all are easy to use, you just need to learn how to use them. There are some exceptions for less common functions, but again, once you learn how, you know.

 

[brokrken]

ToS - Think or Swim, have good fill prices and a huge site with a video learning center .... and the best charts. There is a learning curve to see it for the first time but then again there are videos to learn the site. I use for my Dividend account, the chart shows when stock goes ex-div, amount paid etc.
Handy when searching for div. payers ... put it up on a chart and it shows past divs.

Thanks, will definitely check out ToS.

 

[gwraigty]

We have taxable accounts with both Fidelity and Schwab, Roth IRAs with Fidelity, and my husband's 401K is with Vanguard.

No problems with either Fidelity or Schwab. I do everything online myself, with no contact from any high-pressure salespeople. Both websites are easy to use. Statements are easy to decipher.

Bond pricing is similar at both. Schwab is marginally higher sometimes. Schwab does beat Fidelity in terms of more secondary municipal bond offerings, if that is a concern for you. Otherwise, corporate offerings and CDs are similar at both. Both have a vast selection of no-load funds/commission-free ETFs.

Vanguard. A priority after my husband retires is to get the money out of there. Conflicting information, incorrect information, incompetence, that wasn't noticeable just on the 401K side, but became readily apparent when they added a VBO to the plan. Not happy with them at all. They don't allow purchasing of individual bonds online in the VBO, requiring an almost 20 minute phone call to get it done. (I have POA to do this, as my husband cannot do this at work.) After many months of this, trying to invest the initial sum transferred to the VBO, I decided to just use funds/ETFs to simplify matters, which can be done online.

 

[W2R]

Of the three, I have only used Vanguard. They have been absolutely ideal in all respects, for me.

 

[bada bing]

I've had longterm accounts with all three. I closed my Vanguard account 3 years ago and still have Schwab (my individual accounts) and Fidelity (401K and pension).

IMO any of the three is suitable, but I've developed a definite preference. Schwab > Fidelity >> Vanguard. My personal opinion is that unless you value access to Admiral class mutual funds at Vanguard, I'd pick between the other 2 with a nod towards Schwab.

I am a small fish at both Fidelity and Schwab with about $750K at each. At that account level I haven't received any sales pressure at all, nor any unsolicited handholding. The CSR's at both Fidelity and Schwab have been very good when I initiate a request (not often). Schwab appears to be more focused on individual customers, Fidelity more towards plan participants, which is why I have a slight preference towards Schwab.

 

[RobbieB]

For me a prime consideration would be a local office where I can meet and discuss face to face.

 

[davebarnes]

For me a prime consideration would be a local office where I can meet and discuss face to face.

This is why I went with Janus 30+ years ago.

Now, 100% of our retirement money is with Fidelity and we are happy. Local office. Meet with rep once a year to discuss things. And, his "clerk" has been very helpful. I really like the Fido website.

Left Vanguard as they have no local office.

 

[COcheesehead]

I use Fidelity and have for about the last 10 years. I really like them.
You mentioned bonds. I buy a lot of individual bonds, managing a corporate and muni bond ladder. I think Fidelity has superior tools to research, purchase and manage individual bonds.

 

[45th Birthday]

We had a great deal of money at Vanguard years ago. Some with a major traditional firm with a friend from undergrad. Poor service from Vanguard, crappy website and inflexible policies lead me to move the Vanguard funds to Fidelity, where I had my company's 401(k) plan. When the time came to move money from the major traditional firm, it all went to Fidelity. Now they have it all except for a small six figure HSA account at TD Ameritrade.

We are very happy. Our local rep is great, and does not try to sell anything. I wish their technology were a little better, but they do continuously improve it.

 

[Dawg52]

No local office for any of those here but I'm fine with talking to a rep via phone. I use Fidelity but any of the three would work.

 

[Ian S]

To me, local bricks and mortar is important. You might want to consider TD Ameritrade as well. They have a lot more branches now since taking over Scottrade but that may not last. I will probably not keep my small account at Vanguard and will likely shift it to Fidelity or TD where I have existing accounts. IMHO, TD and Schwab are more geared to folks investing in stocks while Fidelity and Vanguard may be a better match for those primarily interested in mutual funds.

 

[TwoByFour]

I own a lot of VG funds, held in Schwab, so looked into an account with VG. I wanted to see the UI so tried to open an account just to kick the tires. They wanted $3000 just to take a look so I decided not to. The little I have used VG customer service I was not impressed. I have been impressed with Schwab customer service (all done through chat). Bottom line - Schwab works well for me so I decided to stick with them. BTW, I own very little of Schwab funds, I just hold everything with them. I buy a lot of TIPS on auction and Schwab makes that very easy to do within an IRA I have, with $0 fee.

 

[Sanstar]

I have been very happy with Fidelity but it’s mainly because of the local advisor who meets with me regularly, takes my calls ASAP and emails me information he thinks might be of treat. I am in VWIAX via USAA brokerage but find USAA fees too high compared to Fidelity to be in their funds.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I've been with Schwab for about 25 years and have always been happy. I can second what others have mentioned above - great online interface (web and iOS apps), great phone service, low fees although probably not the very rock bottom, etc. I don't have a local office since I moved cities in 2010, but haven't had an occasion to visit one even a single time. I have an account person assigned to me, but he never calls (a good thing IMHO), and only forwards me some corporate magazine every quarter or so, which I ignore. But he's there if I ever need him, although phone support has been more than enough so far.

The main thing that keeps me from moving to VG is Schwab's linked checking account. Very easy to move money into and out of, and no ATM charges regardless of where you use the ATM. It's easy to deposit money via the phone app. Their rates on cash have been lousy so I also have an Ally savings account to keep excess money in, although rates have been increasing.

 

[24601NoMore]

Be sure to check the MM yield if you keep any significant cash (we do). VMMXX is 2.09%+ last time I looked. Fido does not seem to have a good alternative.

Other consideration is weekend availability of a live person. Far as I know, VG does not have that. Not sure about FIDO or Schwab. I do know that there are times I wished I could have reached a person over the weekend..

I do miss Scottrade as I had a local branch 5 minutes from my house that got closed when TD bought them. Was going to move my $$ from TD now that there's no close branch but they at least seem to have a decent website.

VG's website is the worst among all IMHO. Not completely terrible, but the others are better. And I do read from time to time on BH that people have "quirky" issues that are at times hard to get resolved, but I'm sure that probably happens with the others too.

Other big advantage is buying some of the core VG accounts like Wellesley and Wellington - obviously best place to do that is VG. FIDO and I'm pretty sure Schwab will hit you in the pocketbook on those.

 

[Cobra9777]

I think Vanguard would be a fine choice if you are going to be all-in with their mutual funds, especially Admiral shares. Recently, Vanguard seems to be struggling administratively with all the growth, while also trying to keep costs down. Plus lots of stories here about weird policies, like no TOD for joint accounts.

I researched this question extensively when we consolidated everything at retirement 5 years ago. We ended up with all our accounts at Fidelity, but our portfolio consists exclusively of ultra-low-ER Vanguard and iShares ETFs. I think it's the best of both worlds. We also do all normal banking functions using our cash management account at Fidelity and we love the 2% cash-back VISA. We're very happy with Fidelity, but based on my research back then, I think Schwab would have been a fine choice as well.

 

[Aggie1999]

I did find Vanguard not allowing beneficiaries for joint accounts a little weird. Doesn't make sense to me and could be one reason not to use Vanguard.

To the OP's original question, one could use multiple brokerages to stay under the SIPC insurance limits, depending on the amount of money they have.

 

[Breedlove]

We have had good luck with Fidelity , our CPA recommended Fidelity and a rep. Have had experience with Vanguard and Merrill Lynch . No complaints with Vanguard , ML seems not for me.

 

[jazz4cash]

I’m very happy with Fidelity primarily due to web tools and local offices. I have no experience with Schwab and limited experience at VG. I think I am in the sweet spot with not enough assets to get products pushed at me but enough to get prompt attention when I do call. A rep calls me about 2x /yr to check in. One thing I will caution you about is they seem to use different people to process workplace accounts vs my IRA and brokerage accounts so that seems inefficient at times. I just discovered another local branch and I am considering establishing a contact there.

 

[dcoy]

I have accounts with all three (and Morgan and HSBC). By far the best and easiest online user interface, both mobile and desktop, is Schwab. I manage my own portfolio, so the services they offer are for the most part not of interest to me. A good online experience is however.